In an email, Snow said the facility has seen an “all-time high” of 17.7 percent of inmates testing positive for various illicit substances that MCF officials believe to have been smuggled in by visitors.

“Visitors of all ages will not be allowed to physically touch the offender that they are visiting,” Snow wrote. “Also, offenders will be wearing special visitation jumpsuits and crocs (shoes) to limit any contraband coming into the facility.”

According to Snow the precautions being taken by the facility, no matter how long they remain in effect, are in place as an effort to lower inmate exposure to drugs and other contraband.

Though the no-contact visits may be less than what visitors want when they stop at MCF, Snow did not discount the importance visits have on both the visitor and the inmate, and she also noted the no-contact visits aren’t expected to be a permanent fixture at the facility.

“While we know the importance that lists have on our offender population, and how much it means to have physical contact with their loved ones, we have to decrease the amount of positive drug tests,” Snow wrote.”Hopefully, this restriction will be a temporary one and the warden will revisit the numbers each month.”

According to Snow’s email, along with an official MCF Facebook post, there is a target for positive drugs tests and then the restrictions will be lifted; once the positive drug tests are below 10 percent of the population, Hyatt will allow visits to return to the lighter regulations.